Preparing Students for Technology-Enhanced Assessments

The learning community increasingly is embracing technology-enhanced items (TEI) for assessment, in coordination with organizations like PARCC and SBAC.

TEIs open up a wide range of question types, such as drag-and-drop, drop-down menus, graph plotting, text selection, equ ation builders, and text and numerical entry.

The positives: More creative assessments, improved precision of performance measurement, and increased opportunity to engage students.

For teachers, it’s important to ensure that students have the computer skills to perform in these types of assessments. If a student has trouble with basic skills such as clicking and scrolling, she will face challenges with Common Core tests.

Looking at the range of enhanced items used in assessments, students need to focus on the following technology skills:

Click/tap

Select objects, text, and area

Select multiple items

Scroll

Drag-and-drop

Unselect

Use a calculator, protractor, and ruler

Use a text editor

Use a video player

While it’s natural to think that students already have these skills, it’s important to verify. Otherwise, some learners will underperform in Common Core tests despite having learned the necessary curriculum.